Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Thailand is Cambodia's neighbor to the West, and this forum is dedicated to Thai news, stories, reviews, blogs, videos, Thai people and anything else related to the country. A lot of expats have both lived and worked in Cambodia and Thailand, and this area is a place to discuss all aspects of life in Thailand and what's going on there. Most topics are about Bangkok and Pattaya because of their larger populations of expatriates and tourists in those cities, but this is for all things Thai.
User avatar
crob
Expatriate
Posts: 534
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2018 1:57 pm
Reputation: 256
Australia

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Post by crob »

> Foreign tourists are expected to generate 800 billion Thai baht ($23.97 billion) this year, he said.


well that's pretty fucken optimistic when entry is currently very limited.
User avatar
Doc67
Expatriate
Posts: 8869
Joined: Thu Nov 16, 2017 9:16 am
Reputation: 8145
Location: PHNOM PENH
Great Britain

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Post by Doc67 »

Thailand's latest Covid precautions in a BKK hotel today.

Image
User avatar
jaynewcastle
Expatriate
Posts: 1150
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2014 12:46 am
Reputation: 342
Great Britain

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Post by jaynewcastle »

I can imagine the floor being covered quickly n used toothpicks, as putting any sort of rubbish in a container is an alien concept in SE Asia it appears

At my Test & Go hotel in Bangkok last week, 2 Chinese-looking men got the lift down with me, and used a paper hankie to press the lift buttons. When we arrived at ground level, the used hankie was just dropped on the floor, despite there being a rubbish bin right next to the lift door
User avatar
phuketrichard
Expatriate
Posts: 16790
Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 5:17 pm
Reputation: 5733
Location: Atlantis
Aruba

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Post by phuketrichard »

Thailand will start charging international travelers B300 (not B500 as originally planned) starting April. The initiative is part of “Amazing Thailand New Chapter”, the upcoming campaign by the Tourism and Sports Ministry that aims to boost the country’s tourism industry and subsidize future sustainable tourism projects.

The government’s rep further explained that part of these collected fees will be utilized for the maintenance of tourist attractions, while B50 will be used to provide the tourist with insurance coverage, which would pay one million baht (approximately USD30,000) in case of death and B500,000 (approximately USD15,000) for medical expenses.


https://www.timeout.com/bangkok/news/co ... xIC4_OZFNI

dam, great deal 300 baht for 500,000 hospital coverage!! :beer3:
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
kagi
Expatriate
Posts: 173
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2020 2:31 pm
Reputation: 74
Switzerland

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Post by kagi »

BANGKOK: Thailand is considering bringing back a quarantine waiver for vaccinated visitors, its health minister said on Monday (Jan 17), as part of a proposed easing of some COVID-19 measures later this week.

Thailand reopened to vaccinated foreign visitors in November to help a vital tourism industry that collapsed during nearly 18 months of strict entry policies. It saw about 200,000 arrivals last year, compared to nearly 40 million in 2019.


The "Test and Go" policy, which allows visitors to skip the mandatory quarantine if they test negative on arrival, was suspended late in December over concerns about the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

"We will propose measures that can be done safely and are medically sound," Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told Reuters.

"If approved it can start by Feb 1," he said of the quarantine waiver.

Thailand recorded 6,929 new COVID-19 infections and 13 deaths on Monday. More than 2.3 million people have been infected overall, with 22,000 deaths.
snookieboi
Expatriate
Posts: 208
Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2016 2:29 pm
Reputation: 29
Great Britain

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Post by snookieboi »

kagi wrote: Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:36 am BANGKOK: Thailand is considering bringing back a quarantine waiver for vaccinated visitors,
It would certainly help because currently the situation makes Thailand prettymuch unvisitable and more hassle then it is worth for a travellers "to even think of going there"

I presume Thailand is being so overly strict because most of its inhabitants are not fully vaccinated if that is the case then that is understandable otherwise it's complete overreaction because the omicron variant which is now prevailing in the UK is now known to be much milder than regular previous covid cases were.
Yeah I mean if they relax things in February that would definitely help but they should also do away with the need for PCR testing that's expensive and unnecessary, because they can use lateral flow tests and also they should do away with the mandatory insurance situation as they are soon to force everybody to pay a 300 baht fee anyway that should include some insurance at least.
More than just any old backpacker.
kagi
Expatriate
Posts: 173
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2020 2:31 pm
Reputation: 74
Switzerland

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Post by kagi »

The Test & Go programme will be reintroduced soon while entry rules under the scheme will be tweaked to allow close monitoring of overseas arrivals' health, said Gen Supoj Malaniyom, head of operations at the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

Gen Supoj, also secretary-general of the National Security Council, added that Test & Go rules need to be tightened. The CCSA is looking into ways to monitor the health of overseas arrivals during the first seven days of entry.

It appears that under the tightening of the programme, arrivals will undergo two RT-PCR tests during their initial seven days, the first upon arrival and the second on the fifth or sixth day.

Also on Wednesday, the Public Health Ministry suggested that overseas visitors take out comprehensive health insurance that covers all Covid-19 treatment cases. Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit, the public health permanent secretary, said visitors must ensure they are fully covered for all types of Covid-19 treatments.

Partial insurance coverage leaves the government to pick up the rest of the bill. So far, 100 million baht of state funds have been disbursed. "We will no longer subsidise. The visitors must buy insurance that covers all treatments or purchase additional health insurance when they arrive here," Dr Kiattiphum said. "The measure will take effect when Test & Go is reintroduced."
kagi
Expatriate
Posts: 173
Joined: Wed Aug 26, 2020 2:31 pm
Reputation: 74
Switzerland

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Post by kagi »

Thailand will resume the 'Test & Go' quarantine waiver for vaccinated arrivals from Feb 1, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said on Thursday, in response to slowing coronavirus infections.

The scheme was suspended a month ago after only seven weeks due to the rapid global spread of the Omicron variant and uncertainty about vaccine effectiveness against it.

The policy requires visitors to test on arrival and again five days later, while agreeing to have their whereabouts tracked, CCSA spokesperson Taweesilp Wisanuyothin told a briefing.

The CCSA also agreed to expand the “Sandbox” quarantine waiver programme to include popular eastern beach destinations Pattaya and Koh Chang.

The scheme, where vaccinated tourists must agree to stay in one location for a week, is currently operating in Phuket and Koh Samui.

The country has reported 2.3 million infections and nearly 22,000 coronavirus-related fatalities overall. About two-thirds of residents have been vaccinated and 15% have received a booster.
User avatar
yong
Expatriate
Posts: 4267
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2018 12:03 pm
Reputation: 2769
Thailand

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Post by yong »

kagi wrote: Thu Jan 20, 2022 2:28 pm Thailand will resume the 'Test & Go' quarantine waiver for vaccinated arrivals from Feb 1, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said on Thursday, in response to slowing coronavirus infections.

The scheme was suspended a month ago after only seven weeks due to the rapid global spread of the Omicron variant and uncertainty about vaccine effectiveness against it.

The policy requires visitors to test on arrival and again five days later, while agreeing to have their whereabouts tracked, CCSA spokesperson Taweesilp Wisanuyothin told a briefing.

The CCSA also agreed to expand the “Sandbox” quarantine waiver programme to include popular eastern beach destinations Pattaya and Koh Chang.

The scheme, where vaccinated tourists must agree to stay in one location for a week, is currently operating in Phuket and Koh Samui.

The country has reported 2.3 million infections and nearly 22,000 coronavirus-related fatalities overall. About two-thirds of residents have been vaccinated and 15% have received a booster.
Great news for me. Finally could go back to join my family this year for Lunar New Year reunion dinner. Just booked my flights and hotel. 👍👍👍
User avatar
ExPenhMan
Expatriate
Posts: 1872
Joined: Sun May 18, 2014 7:42 pm
Reputation: 977
Location: Bangkok
Canada

Re: Thailand Travel Restrictions and Info

Post by ExPenhMan »

yong wrote: Thu Jan 20, 2022 3:17 pm
kagi wrote: Thu Jan 20, 2022 2:28 pm Thailand will resume the 'Test & Go' quarantine waiver for vaccinated arrivals from Feb 1, the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said on Thursday, in response to slowing coronavirus infections.

The scheme was suspended a month ago after only seven weeks due to the rapid global spread of the Omicron variant and uncertainty about vaccine effectiveness against it.

The policy requires visitors to test on arrival and again five days later, while agreeing to have their whereabouts tracked, CCSA spokesperson Taweesilp Wisanuyothin told a briefing.

The CCSA also agreed to expand the “Sandbox” quarantine waiver programme to include popular eastern beach destinations Pattaya and Koh Chang.

The scheme, where vaccinated tourists must agree to stay in one location for a week, is currently operating in Phuket and Koh Samui.

The country has reported 2.3 million infections and nearly 22,000 coronavirus-related fatalities overall. About two-thirds of residents have been vaccinated and 15% have received a booster.
Great news for me. Finally could go back to join my family this year for Lunar New Year reunion dinner. Just booked my flights and hotel. 👍👍👍
OK, clarity is still needed as well as publication in the Royal Gazette, but did you @yong notice the hotel booking and PCR test weirdness? You have to book and pay for day 1 and day 5 in a hotel with a hospital affiliation and prepay for the PCR tests. Unless of course you go with the Phuket Sandbox program of 7 days.

This is what I got from the Richard Barrow Twitter reporting:
Richard Barrow in Thailand
@RichardBarrow

The details are yet to be published in the Royal Gazette, but it seems clear to me, for Days 1 and 5 you must book a hotel that has a partner hospital that can do the two RT-PCR tests. This is in response to people either not doing the 2nd test or not waiting for the results.
RB 2:
To be clear, you don’t have to book a SHA+ hotel for the first five days. However, you must book a hotel for Day 1 and Day 5 that has a partner hospital. It doesn’t have to be the same hotel.
This is from The Pattaya News, which is not a bad source for all the Thai Twister announcements:
The CCSA also agreed to reimplement the “Test&Go” scheme for vaccinated international arrivals under nearly quarantine-free conditions. Two RT-PCR tests are required on Day 1 and Day 5 of the arrival. Travelers must stay at SHA+ hotels while waiting for the PCR results. These must be paid for in advance and there will be a system in place to ensure that tourists check into hotels, especially on Day 5. One will need to only stay at the hotel until the results of their test arrive.
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: KunKhmerSR and 194 guests